Record passengers at Riga port and airport

Passenger numbers are on the rise at the Baltics’ biggest airport – and at Riga’s passenger port.

Passenger numbers continue to rise at the Baltics’ biggest airport, RIX, as well as at Riga’s passenger port.

The number of passengers arriving and departing Riga International Airport in 2017 exceeded 6 million for the first time, at 6.1 million (exactly 6,097,765), 12.9% more than in 2016.

The biggest rises in passenger turnover were with German airports (0.9 million passengers, up 4.4%), UK airports (0.8 million, up 6.5%) and Russian airports (0.6 million, up 13.8%).

On February 15, the airport celebrated its 11 millionth Ryanair passenger since the low-cost carrier opened routes to and from Riga in 2004.

Bigger rises by sea
Meanwhile, the number of passengers using Latvian ports by ferry leaped up 37.5% to 994,000. This included 743,000 passengers at Riga Passenger Terminal, a rise of 45.6%, and 41,100 at the port of Liepāja, up 24.6%.

The port of Ventspils saw 209,900 passengers, an increase of 16.6% – a passenger figure that is three-and-a-half times more than it was in 2010.

Passengers streaming into the Latvian capital on cruise ships increased too, with 87,400 cruise passengers arriving at Riga Passenger Terminal, 22.4% more than in 2016.

By land passenger transport, 242.8 million visitors were carried into Latvia in 2017, 0.8% less than in 2016. This includes a 1.5% rise by rail and a 1.9% decrease by scheduled bus.